MINSK ( BelTA) – A market-making mechanism for government securities is being launched on Belarus’ stock market. This information was announced at a press conference of the Belarusian Currency and Stock Exchange (BCSE), BelTA has learned.

BCSE Board Chairman Andrei Aukhimenya explained that market makers are market participants who maintain bid and ask quotes for securities. “In this way, these companies create both demand and supply. Citizens and the real sector of the economy understand that they can sell this bond and find an opportunity to buy it,” he explained.

Market makers have certain restrictions, in particular regarding the difference between the purchase and sale prices. “The buyer and the seller always understand that the price will not go beyond certain limits,” Andrei Aukhimenya added.

The market makers are Belagroprombank for the 412th issue of government bonds in national currency of the Finance Ministry and Aigenis for the 380th issue in foreign currency. Belagroprombank has set quotes for 500 bonds to buy and 500 bonds to sell daily. Thus, the bank’s total obligation limit is 1,000 bonds. With a nominal value of Br1,000, this equals Br1 million. The situation with foreign currency bonds is different: 200 bonds to buy and 200 to sell – 400 in total. With a nominal value of $1,000, the total limit is $400,000.

The difference between the purchase and sale prices may be 2 % or less. Transactions will be recorded through the exchange.

The market is moving to a model in which transactions are executed instantly. “Government bonds, besides being reliable, are becoming a maximally live savings instrument,” the BCSE Board chairman emphasized. “We do not plan long warm-ups or test periods – the contracts have been signed and the infrastructure has been created. The first two-way quotes from both market makers appeared in the trading system today at 10:30.”

Deputy Finance Minister Pavel Lemekh noted that the new instrument is intended to provide flexibility for other market mechanisms. “Market making makes it possible to activate the stock market. The emergence of a new participant helps us solve the tasks of attracting financing, and for enterprises it becomes a flexible way of managing resources. A company can buy bonds today, having free funds, and sell them tomorrow. This is a liquidity management mechanism both for the Finance Ministry and for the real sector of the economy,” he added.

Deputy Chairman of the Board of Belagroprombank Sergei Chugai called the launch of the market-maker institution one of the evolutionary and long-awaited stages in the development of Belarus’ financial and stock market. “The presence of a market maker indicates that the market is moving into a more stable phase, where the buyer or seller knows that liquidity risks are minimized as much as possible and that there is always a buyer and a seller. Moreover, an investor can study the specification well and understand the spreads within which the security will be traded.”

The launch of the market-making mechanism for government securities on Belarus’ stock market marks an important stage in the development of the country’s financial infrastructure. The introduction of the market-making institution is aimed at addressing key market development tasks: increasing the liquidity of trading instruments, improving transparent pricing mechanisms and expanding investment opportunities for all trading participants.